PORT ANGELES — Tonight’s community crab feed will kick off a weekend devoted to crustacean admiration in Port Angeles.
The ninth annual Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival on City Pier, at The Gateway, in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot and points in between will begin officially at 10 a.m. Saturday, wrapping up at 8:30 p.m., only to begin again at 10 a.m. Sunday and continue until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
But locals get a preview of good eating tonight.
Community feed
The community crab feed sponsored by the Peninsula Daily News will offer a freshly cooked, whole Dungeness crab, sweet corn and organic coleslaw from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Windermere Crab Central Pavilion in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot, 221 N. Lincoln St.
The cost is $25 per plate. A coupon knocking $5 off that price can be clipped from today’s PDN. It’s on Page C2.
The annual festival expanded last year from City Pier into The Gateway at the corner of Front and Lincoln streets and will continue to operate in The Gateway, across Lincoln Street from the 7,000-square-foot tent in the parking lot of the Red Lion Hotel.
7,000 pounds of crab
“We’re ordering 7,000 pounds of live crab — and if attendance goes up, we’ll order more,” said Scott Nagel, producing director of the festival.
“We’re expecting bigger numbers than usual because all the major hotels in town are full already and we’ve had great mention in all the regional papers.”
He estimated that, given good weather, about 15,000 people would show up for the vendors, the activities, the cooking demonstrations and, of course, the food.
About 20 restaurants will sell delectable delights in the tent in the Red Lion Hotel parking lot, and more than 60 vendors will sell their goods on City Pier from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s dance group will lead the festival’s opening ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday.
‘Grab-a-Crab’
The “Grab-a-Crab” Derby — in which visitors paying $5 have a chance to snag a live crab from a tank and take it home — will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Coast Guard will present a combined air-sea rescue demonstration at 2 p.m. Saturday off City Pier.
A raptor demonstration is planned at 1 p.m. Sunday on Hollywood Beach.
Hands-on educational activities and exhibits are planned at the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center on City Pier.
“We also have a volleyball tournament set up for both Saturday and Sunday, and all the teams for that have already signed up,” Nagel said.
Volleyball, fun run
The volleyball tournament is a first for the festival.
So is Sunday’s fun run.
“We’ll have a 5K fun run on Sunday that people can still sign up for,” Nagel said.
Runners can just show up to register for the run, which will leave from Lincoln Street near The Gateway at 10 a.m.
“We also have a new beer garden set up at The Gateway this year,” Nagel said.
The Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival is produced by the nonprofit Olympic Peninsula Celebrations and the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
For more information, visit www.crabfestival.org, e-mail info@crabfestival.org or phone 360-452-6300.
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
